On May 18, Gloria Estefan was featured as the Sunday Sitdown’s guest of the week and spoke with Willie Geist. The Latin star shared her passion for music, her story and more about her career.
Estefan’s latest album “Raíces”, which translates to “Roots”, is to hit music streaming services on May 29.
Two tracks from the album have already been released: “Raíces” and “La Vecina (No Se’ Na’)”.
Gloria Estefan Opens Up About Singing in Spanish
The new album is the singer’s first Spanish-speaking album in almost two decades. When asked if there is “something extra or different” when she sings in Spanish, Estefan shared how special it is to sing in her native language.
“Absolutely, it’s my heart language,” she told Geist. “In English, you have to be a little more restrained in your emotion for it not to be saccharine, I’ve learned through the years, but when I’m singing in Spanish. It’s it’s my heart like pouring out.”
How Gloria Estefan’s Career Began
Although Estefan is widely-recognized today for her musical career, the Cuban singer has faced hardships.
As reported in the Sunday Sitdown, Estefan and her family fled Cuba when she was a toddler. The family came to America. Her father joined the U.S. Army and while he was serving in Vietnam, Estefan’s mother moved the family to an apartment in Miami. The apartment complex actually serves as the setting for the official music video for her song “La Vecina (No Se’ Na’)”.
Estefan met her now husband, Emilio Estefan, in Miami. He was an accordion player and had a band known as “The Miami Latin boys”.
Estafan shared how she was approached with the idea of joining the group.
“He [Emilio] goes, ‘You know, we don’t have really a lead singer. Nobody in Miami has girl singers, and I think you’d be great,’” Estefan shared.
She joined the band which then became the well-known “Miami Sound Machine”. The band released hit songs such as “Conga!” and “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”. The infectious music began to take over.
The Latin singer noted the impact the song “Conga!” has had globally.
“No matter where I’ve been,” Estefan said, “somebody’s wedding, or a club, somewhere in Europe or in Japan or whatever, that song still comes on because they still play it.”
Estefan’s new music has been highly anticipated and fans are looking forward to hearing her new musical body of work.
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Gloria Estefan Talks About Upcoming Album & How ‘Miami Sound Machine’ was Created